updated 11:50 pm EDT, Wed April 30, 2008

No decision on Microhoo

Microsoft head Steve Ballmer has yet to come to a decision regarding the impending Yahoo takeover, as even his closest lieutenants are left wondering what he plans to do regarding Yahoo's silence. According toThe Wall Street Journal, Ballmer's threats remain stagnant due to his unpredictable nature, leaving many in the industry questioning whether he plans to follow through with replacing Yahoo's board through its investors.

Ballmer's indecision hinges as well on the interests of the parties involved. Influential Yahoo shareholders are clamoring for a figure between $35 and $37 per share, while the company's management and board are seeking an unspecified amount in the high $30s.

Yahoo's dealings with Google and AOL are also a large factor, as CEO Jerry Yang comes up with methods to demonstrate the company's value to investors. If Microsoft fails to come to a decision regarding a better offer, Yahoo could solidify its relationship with search giant Google, discouraging investors from harming Yahoo's fiscal ecosystem.

re: bullying

That's what happens when Microsoft let people like Apple, Google, Firefox, and Linux compete with them without snuffing them out of existence. You get people like Yahoo not taking Microsoft's threat seriously anymore. ;). The Lion lost it's teeth and all that's left is it's roar.

not quite

At Apple's lowest point, Gates threw Jobs a lifeline right after the latter returned to Apple... because Gates knew that it was useful to have a competitor, if only to help keep the government anti-trust lawyers at bay. Of course, if he had had any clue how things would turn out 10 years later, he might have still helped but not quite so much.

In any case, the problem with Microsoft is not that they allowed competition, it's that they got where they are through brute force. That can work well -spectacularly well in some cases, like if you bought MSFT early on in the 90s - but as a long-term strategy, it is bound to fail. That's the lesson Ballmer is (or should be) learning now. He got where he is by bullshit and bullying. Those don't work so well now and he doesn't know what else to do.